This Mountainous Journey Was Named the Greatest Winter Practice Route within the World

Japan is world-renowned for its bullet trains, which transport passengers at speeds of as much as 200 miles per hour. For that purpose, when the Japan Railways Group ran a examine reviewing in style winter prepare routes world wide, we took discover.

The examine, launched in 2024 by the specialists at JR Cross, a rail move offered by the Japan Railways Group for abroad guests, analyzed issues like Tripadvisor critiques, Instagram hashtags, and snowfall knowledge to find out the world’s most enchanting prepare rides. On the very high of their rankings was the Canadian Rockies Snow Practice.

The route alone is wish-list-worthy. The prepare departs from Vancouver and heads east towards the Rockies, a mountain vary recognized for its rugged, ice-capped peaks and glacier-fed lakes. Alongside the best way, the prepare passes by dense forests and slender river canyons. After one night time on the prepare, you arrive in Jasper, a mountain city set inside a nationwide park of the identical identify. Jasper Nationwide Park is residence to the shrinking Athabasca Glacier, which could be simply visited, together with lovely (seemingly frozen) alpine lakes. The park additionally occurs to be the world’s second-largest Worldwide Darkish Sky Protect.

The route ends in Jasper, however most tour firms proceed the journey by coach on the Icefields Parkway, probably the most lovely winter drives on this planet. The parkway connects Jasper with Lake Louise and Banff, two sibling cities set inside Banff Nationwide Park, Canada’s oldest and most storied nationwide park. Along with visiting the turquoise, glacier-fed Lake Louise, which is surrounded by excessive peaks, you’ll be able to hike the Johnston Canyon Icewalk or take pleasure in the sunshine present from the Banff Gondola. From Banff, the journey continues to Calgary, the place most vacationers finish their journey.

In its rating, JRPass gave the prepare a rating of 8.94 out of 10, calling the route an “unmatched showcase of Canada’s majestic winter landscapes.” Over the season, a lot of the area sees effectively over 100 inches of common annual snowfall, a key part to the magic of a winter prepare experience. The journey features a night time in a non-public sleeper automotive, all meals, and entry to the prepare’s viewing areas, which have outsized home windows.

Ranked below the Canadian Rockies Snow Practice have been 9 different routes unfold throughout the globe—three in Japan, 5 in Europe, and one in the US. Rounding out the highest 5 are Japan’s Range Practice, Colorado’s Pikes Peak Cog Railway, France’s Montenvers Practice, and Norway’s Bergen Line.